Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 5:38-48
ARE THERE EVER TIMES WHEN SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN AND YOU WILL FEEL RAGE OR EMBARRASSMENT OR FEAR, OR SOME UNWANTED EMOTION, WELLING UP INSIDE YOU? IT HAPPENS. I REMEMBER A TIME IN COLLEGE WHEN SOMEONE WAS DESPERATE FOR MONEY, AND PROMISED THAT IF I LOANED HIM FIVE DOLLARS HE WOULD PROMPTLY PAY IT BACK. FIVE DOLLARS, BY THE WAY, WAS A LOT OF MONEY IN THE 1960'S. I ALLOWED MYSELF $20.00 SPENDING MONEY EACH MONTH IN THOSE DAYS. SO AFTER A FEW WEEKS, I ASKED FOR THE RETURN OF MY LOAN. HE STATED THAT THE MONEY HE WAS EXPECTING FROM HIS PARENTS HAD NOT YET COME IN, BUT AS SOON AS IT DID, I WOULD BE FIRST ON THE LIST. SUMMER BREAK CAME ALONG. IN THE FALL, I RAISED THE ISSUE AGAIN. HE DENIED KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT MY LOANING HIM MONEY. AND I HAD NO PROOF. I FELT LIKE AN IDIOT, I FELT DISRESPECTED, AND I FELT LIKE BEATING HIM TO A PULP, ALL IN ONE FLASH. I LOST MY COOL. I NEVER DID SEE THAT FIVE DOLLARS, BUT I STILL REMEMBER THE EMOTIONS I FELT.
I RECENTLY READ ABOUT A PALESTINIAN PHYSICIAN WHO LIVES IN THE GAZA STRIP AND PRACTICED IN A HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL, WHERE JEWS AND PALESTINIANS WORKED TOGETHER. WHEN ISRAEL INVADED GAZA IN RESPONSE TO ROCKET ATTACKS THAT HAD BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THREE OF HIS DAUGHTERS WERE KILLED. DR. IZELDEEN ABUIELISH WROTE A BOOK CALLED “I SHALL NOT HATE”. HE TOLD A REPORTER, "THE WOUND AND THE PAIN HAVE NOT DISAPPEARED, BUT SUFFERING IS PART OF THE PROCESS OF FORGIVENESS. NOT FORGIVENESS FOR ISRAELIS, BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR MYSELF, IN ORDER TO SHAKE OFF THE HATRED AND THE RAGE AND HOPE FOR A BETTER PATH.” HE WENT ON TO SAY, "IN LIFE, DON'T COUNT ON THINGS THAT CAN CHANGE. POWER CAN CHANGE. TODAY, YOU ARE STRONG LIKE ISRAEL, TOMORROW YOU ARE WEAK. RELY ONLY ON WHAT IS BASIC AND PERMANENT. IN OTHER WORDS, THE HUMANITY IN ALL OF US. THE TOLERANCE, THE CAPACITY FOR FORGIVENESS AND THE DESIRE FOR A BETTER LIFE.”
JESUS TODAY LISTS SEVERAL SCENARIOS WHICH WOULD MAKE ME EXPERIENCE ONE OF THOSE UNWANTED EMOTIONS. IF SOMEONE STRUCK ME, I MIGHT NOT STRIKE BACK, BUT I WOULD PROBABLY INWARDLY BE VERY ANGRY; BUT TO OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK? FAT CHANCE. IF SOMEONE TAKES MY COAT BY FORCE, I WOULD FEEL HELPLESS AND ANGRY; I DOUBT I WOULD GIVE THAT PERSON MY SHIRT. IF I AM FORCED TO DO SOMETHING AGAINST MY WILL, I WILL FEEL LIKE A SLAVE, LIKE AN OBJECT; AND I CAN'T SEE MYSELF VOLUNTEERING TO CONTINUE IN THAT PARTICULAR STATE. I DON'T THINK JESUS IS ACTUALLY GIVING US SPECIFICS ABOUT HOW TO BEHAVE; I THINK HE WANTS US TO PUT OURSELVES INTO THOSE SCENARIOS. WILL WE HAVE THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS? BECAUSE THEY ARE POINTERS; THEY TELL US THAT WE ARE PUTTING OURSELVES AT THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. THOSE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS WE FEEL ARE THERE BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS LOSING OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR AUTONOMY; IN SHORT, WE SEE OURSELVES AS BEING MADE INTO OBJECTS, CREATURES TO BE USED BY ANOTHER PERSON. AND WE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE A VERY STRONG INSTINCT TO BE SUBJECTS, TO BE IN CONTROL.
JESUS BY HIS WORDS AND HIS LIFE, SHOWED US THAT OUR ATTEMPT TO BE IN CONTROL IS DOOMED TO FAILURE; OUR DESIRE FOR INDEPENDENCE, FOR AUTONOMY, FOR SECURITY – THOSE DESIRES WILL NOT BE FULFILLED, THOSE DESIRES ARISE PRECISELY BECAUSE WE SEE OURSELVES AS THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD – AND WE REALLY AREN'T.
JESUS' ANSWER IS TO PUT GOD FIRST, AND OUR NEIGHBOR SECOND; WE ARE THIRD. THAT IS THE WAY THINGS REALLY ARE, WE MIGHT AS WELL GO ALONG WITH REALITY. GOD IS FIRST, THAT'S NOT HARD TO GRASP INTELLECTUALLY; IT IS HIS WORLD, AND HIS WILL WILL BE DONE. NEIGHBOR IS SECOND. THIS IS HARDER TO GRASP. IT DOES SEEM TO BE BIBLICAL, BUT IS IT NATURAL, DOES IT STEM FROM OUR NATURE? I THINK IT DOES. I THINK PEOPLE ARE HAPPIEST WHEN THEY ARE VOLUNTARILY DOING THINGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE – WHETHER FAMILY MEMBERS OR STRANGERS. IF I MAKE A CHILD HAPPY, I'M HAPPY. IF I CAN SEE A SENSE OF RELIEF IN SOMEONE WHO REALLY NEEDED SOMETHING THAT I COULD PROVIDE, I CAN FEEL THAT RELIEF MYSELF. WE ARE DESIGNED, NATURALLY, TO HAVE EMPATHY, TO FEEL WHAT OTHERS FEEL. I'VE LEARNED THAT I CAN'T REALLY MAKE MYSELF HAPPY – I CAN NEVER FIX EVERYTHING I WOULD HAVE TO FIX. BUT I CAN MAKE OTHERS HAPPY AND FEEL THEIR JOY.
SO GOD FIRST, MY BROTHER OR SISTER SECOND, AND ME LAST. AND IF I LIVE THAT WAY, IF SOMEONE SLAPS ME ON THE CHEEK, I CAN TURN THE OTHER CHEEK, BECAUSE IT WON'T REALLY MATTER. I WON'T FEEL RAGE OR ANGER; AFTER ALL, IF GOD IS FIRST, IF GOD IS AT THE CENTER, THEN I AM ASSURED THAT ALL WILL PROCEED ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN, AND I CAN ACCEPT THAT, JUST AS SO MANY MARTYRS WENT JOYFULLY TO THEIR OWN DEATHS.
AN ENEMY IS SOMEONE WHO CONTROLS YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL, OR THREATENS TO DO THIS. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES MANY PEOPLE IRRATIONAL ABOUT ISLAM – THE IDEA THAT A LEGAL SYSTEM, SHARIA LAW, WOULD BE IMPOSED ON US WITHOUT OUR WILL, IF MUSLIMS HAD THEIR WAY. IT'S ONE OF THE CONSTANT SOURCES OF TENSION IN OUR SOCIETY – SHOULD WE “IMPOSE” MORALITY BY LAW, OR SHOULD WE PUT UP WITH JUST ABOUT ANYTHING BECAUSE WE VALUE FREEDOM AND AUTONOMY MORE? BUT JESUS IS SAYING, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. THAT WILL BE THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIS FOLLOWERS AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND IN ORDER TO REALLY DO THIS, I HAVE TO CHANGE THE WAY I SEE THE WORLD AND MYSELF IN THE WORLD. AND I CAN RECOGNIZE THIS CHANGE AS HAVING TAKEN PLACE IF I NO LONGER FEEL THOSE INVOLUNTARY REACTIONS THAT COME AS A CONSEQUENCE OF PEOPLE THREATENING MY CONTROL, MY AUTONOMY.
ALL OF US ARE BY NATURE DESIGNED TO LIVE AS THOUGH WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD. BUT THIS WILL ALWAYS LEAD TO UNHAPPINESS; NATURE DOESN'T CARE IF WE ARE HAPPY . JESUS GIVES US THE MEANS TO ALTER OUR WORLD VIEW THROUGH HIS GRACE, THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, THROUGH HIS WORD. AND IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE HAVE A WAY OF TELLING HOW WE ARE DOING. CAN WE REALLY LOVE THOSE WHO TRY TO CONTROL US, WHO THREATEN TO TAKE AWAY OUR INDEPENDENCE, WHO PUSH US AWAY FROM THE CENTER IN WHICH WE SO BADLY WANT TO BE? OR HAVE WE PUT GOD AT THE CENTER, SO THAT WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES TO HATRED AND RAGE, AND SO THAT WE CAN TRULY LOVE OUR ENEMIES?